If Word, Excel or similar documents need to be sent, there are many reasons why it is useful to first convert them into a PDF. Among the ad­van­tages of this data format are a uniform pre­sen­ta­tion and limited editing options. However, when it isn’t necessary to send the entire PDF, free tools can help you to quickly and easily export parts of a PDF.

Why Split a PDF?

There are various reasons for sep­a­rat­ing a PDF. With documents that have a lot of pages es­pe­cial­ly, saving separated chapters provides more clarity. This feature is also useful when certain parts of the content are not intended for the reader. In addition, it is a simple way to not have to remove current pages from a document. After the sep­a­ra­tion process, the PDF document still contains the desired pages which are then sent the usual way.

Tip

How you can combine PDFs or in­di­vid­ual pages with each other and join them together in a single PDF format document is explained in our "Merge PDF" article.

What are the Free Options Available for Sep­a­rat­ing a PDF?

The Software Adobe Acrobat DC (must be purchased) is among the most well-known tools for editing documents. However, there are free al­ter­na­tives that offer to separate PDF pages and other features. The tools are available either online as a web service or as a free-to-download software. In the following in­tro­duc­tion, the web service PDF2GO and the desktop program PDF24 are used as examples.

Split PDFs Online with PDF2GO: A Step-by-Step Ex­pla­na­tion

The sep­a­ra­tion of a PDF directly in the browser is the simplest and quickest solution. For this reason, it isn’t necessary to install a program and the PDF can be edited im­me­di­ate­ly. One of the most popular tools of this kind is PDF2GO. The web solution, which also offers diverse other PDF editing options such as shrinking or repairing, is free and simple in its ap­pli­ca­tion. The following in­tro­duc­tion explains how you can split in­di­vid­ual pages from a PDF or export them together as a new document.

Step 1: Upload PDF

Drag the desired PDF file via Drag-and-Drop into the yellow area. Al­ter­na­tive­ly, you can use the “Choose File” button for the upload and then specify the document’s local storage area. As a third al­ter­na­tive, PDF2GO lastly provides the option of uploading the documents directly from a Google Drive, Dropbox or through a link.

Image: The PDF2GO website for splitting PDFs
Via Drag-and-Drop or through spec­i­fy­ing the specific storage area (local, Dropbox, Google Drive, URL) you can just load the PDF easily and quickly.

Step 2: Edit PDF

You then edit the document as you wish. With the “Sort in ascending order” and “Sort in de­scend­ing order” functions, the program provides you with the option of changing the display of the pages. For documents with many pages, this function is es­pe­cial­ly practical.

Delete In­di­vid­ual Pages

In order to delete in­di­vid­ual pages, click on the small red button with the trash bin icon in the cor­re­spond­ing location. The pages are then au­to­mat­i­cal­ly marked red and deleted from the PDF file as soon as you save or export them.

Image: Delete individual pages from a PDF with PDF2GO
By clicking on the trashcan icon, you mark those pages that you would like to extract from the PDF.

Split the PDF

Fur­ther­more, PDF2GO gives you the option of splitting a PDF into several documents through only one process. To do this, click on the scissors symbol. The red-dotted line that is sub­se­quent­ly indicated marks where you’ve separated the PDF. When you go to export, you’ll then receive the separate PDF files ac­cord­ing­ly.

Image: A PDF is edited with PDF2GO
With the selection of the scissors symbol, you separate the in­di­vid­ual pages of a PDF document from each other.

Change the Page Order

You can easily change the sequence of the content with this program. To do this, click on any page and hold down on the mouse button. Then drag the element to the desired location.

Step 3: Save PDF

If you are done editing the PDF, click on “Save As” and then on the green “Save” button.

Image: A PDF is edited and saved with PDF2GO
Choose “Save” in order to start the PDF2GO export function.

If the download doesn’t au­to­mat­i­cal­ly occur, click on the green “Download” area. With the “Cloud Upload” function you upload the newly-created PDF into Google Drive or your Dropbox account.

Image: PDF2GO: Download and export options
After the suc­cess­ful con­ver­sion, you can download the new document or upload it into your Google Drive or Dropbox account.
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Other Online Tools for PDFs for Free

The PDF2GO tool offers, as mentioned above, diverse ad­di­tion­al functions for editing PDF documents, which is why you can not only split PDFs, but merge them (for example) as well. However, the web has plenty of other available al­ter­na­tives. Below we’ll introduce you to some other free solutions.

Soda PDF

The Soda PDF tool is available either as a web app or as a desktop coun­ter­part. In contrast to PDF2GO, it does not offer any visual overview of the pages.

Ad­van­tages Dis­ad­van­tages
Quick and easy editing No visual display of the in­di­vid­ual PDF pages
Few ad­ver­tise­ments in spite of free usage Re­strict­ed functions – only the deleting pages is possible
Con­nec­tion to Google Drive and Dropbox
Desktop version available
Sends new PDF via email

PDFCandy

The al­ter­na­tive PDFCandy is very similar to Soda PDF. As with PDF2Go, the document can be saved directly in Google Drive or Dropbox.

Ad­van­tages Dis­ad­van­tages
Quick and easy editing No visual display of the PDF pages
Few ad­ver­tise­ments in spite of free usage
Con­nec­tion to Google Drive und Dropbox
Desktop version available
Save directly in Google Drive or Dropbox

iLovePDF

The iLovePDF online tool offers many features in com­par­i­son; however, it is more complex to use than other free web services which you can use to separate PDF pages.

Ad­van­tages Dis­ad­van­tages
Sep­a­ra­tion of a PDF into several documents Complex design
Con­nec­tion to Google Drive und Dropbox Not possible to select in­di­vid­ual pages
Save directly in Google Drive or Dropbox
It is possible to generate a download link or QR Codes

Split PDF with PDF24: A Step-by-Step Ex­pla­na­tion

The PDF24 desktop software is up to 100 % free and com­plete­ly usable without an active internet con­nec­tion. Before using it, you must download and install the software, which is only available for Windows. Then you’ll have many features for editing a PDF available to you – among others, the ability to separate PDF pages.

Step 1: Launch the Program

After opening PDF24, you’ll find a selection of different options. Click on “PDF Creator” in the top left in order to launch the editing manager for PDF files.

Image: The PDF24 software’s selection of editing options
After launching the software, select the PDF Creator.

Step 2: Select PDF

Then select the PDF that you would like to edit. Follow the “File” file path in the left area to the cor­re­spond­ing document. You’ll then open this with a double-click on the PDF file or by dragging the file via Drag-and-Drop into the work area.

Image: PDF24’s PDF creator for editing PDF files
Follow the file path to the desired PDF and open it via double-click or Drag-and-Drop.

Step 3: Edit PDF

The PDF au­to­mat­i­cal­ly opens in the program. Now click on the in­di­vid­ual pages that you would like to delete. Either press the [delete] key on your keyboard or select the “Delete” option after right-clicking.

In order to change the order, select a page and drag this to a location of your choosing while holding the mouse key. In this way it is also possible to open several PDF files at the same time or to drag the pages of other documents into the current PDF.

Image: PDF24 with an opened PDF
The software displays each page to you during editing. Scroll through the PDF using the left and right arrow keys beneath them.

In order to rotate in­di­vid­ual pages, click on the cor­re­spond­ing number and then on the rotating arrow symbol. The rotation then occurs ac­cord­ing­ly, either clockwise or coun­ter­clock­wise.

Image: An arrow marks the “Turn pages” function in the PDF24 program
By clicking on the circular symbol, you rotate the selected pages.

If you are done editing the PDF, click on the save symbol (disk) in order to arrive at the next step.

Step 4: Save PDF

The PDF au­to­mat­i­cal­ly opens a dialog field in which you define the details for saving the new PDF document. The most important settings options include the overall quality of the PDF as well as its res­o­lu­tion. These you’ll find in the “General” and “Res­o­lu­tion” sections. If you only need the PDF in digital form, it is normally not necessary to make changes to the settings.

At this point you also have the option of only exporting a specific section as a separate document. To do this, specify the ap­pro­pri­ate page numbers in the lower section. Once you have defined all the settings, click on “Continue”. It is then possible to export the PDF by selecting the desired storage location.

Image: PDF24 settings options for the export of a new PDF file
PDF24 provides numerous options when exporting a PDF.

Ad­di­tion­al Free Desktop Tools with Which You Can Split PDFs

PDF24 is among the standard programs for splitting PDFs that are available as a desktop version. As with the online tools, however, there are other free al­ter­na­tives.

PDFSAM Basic

The PDFSAM Basic program is ideal if you are looking for a cross-platform solution for Windows, macOS und Linux operating systems.

Ad­van­tages Dis­ad­van­tages
Cross-platform In­stal­la­tion of Java is required
For a cost, an upgrade with ad­di­tion­al features is available
No in­stal­la­tion of programs is necessary
Portable software – also usable from a USB stick

7-PDF Split & Merge

The 7-PDF Split & Merge program is also available in a free version. This is however re­strict­ed to a specific number of PDF pages.

Ad­van­tages Dis­ad­van­tages
Quick load times Free version is limited to 50 pages
Portable software – also usable from a USB stick
For a cost, an upgrade with ad­di­tion­al features is available
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